Trusting when the training wheels come off...

I was driving home this week on one of my favorite streets... 1st Avenue North! The trees are old and big, hanging down almost making a canopy and the sun just barley peeks through all the branches... i think it takes me back to Texas!

As i continued down 1st Avenue North i saw such a sweet thing out my window, i watched this man hold onto the back of his little girls back as she struggled to stay on her bike. You could tell she wanted to jump off and cry or just plain give up but, she didn't. At one point she stopped peddling and the dad got in front of her handle bars and hugged her and kissed her right in the middle of her forehead... of course i didn't hear what he said but i imagined it to go something like this " you're doing great, don't give up, you're almost there... i love you so much"! Without a doubt i know that the training wheels had just come off, but that doesn't always mean a smooth, easy, struggle free ride ahead! but, we all know eventually you get there... a few scrapes and scars later.

I began pondering what i had just seen! And the words i imagined that sweet daddy telling his blonde haired beauty began echoing in my soul... and all the sudden i realized a year ago this time i myself was hearing those exact same words... the Lord stopped me dead in my tracks and said "Joanna Katherine...you're doing great, don't give up, you're almost there...i love you so much" The picture that i saw through my window...was me 1 whole year ago! I wanted to give up, i wanted never to make it to Great Falls, i thought maybe if i continued to cry the entire way here... John or the Lord would finally give in and send me back to Texas! But, that didn't happen, HE assured me i would make it, HE assured me i could do it but, only with HIM and He assured me of every single thing i was scared of... He promised His faithfulness to me!

I look back on this entire year! And how could i ever stop singing about all the great things the Lord has done??!!! I haven't just merely made it... i have literally survived and LOVED it! I never thought i would say that...ever! My heart pulled out of Texas so torn... i loved John so much, i was the happiest bride in the USA but, the Lord was allowing me to be pulled away... and i just couldn't swallow it...and i honestly didn't know if i trusted Him enough to believe that everything would be ok!

I think back on every single detail i was concerned over....and He has met them all! Of course, i have had my days where i missed Texas, i have longed for my family and my friends but...there has not been one day that i have felt that way...that the Lord didn't whisper to me " You're doing great, don't give up, your almost there... i love you so much"! The rain has defiantly come... but there has always been a rainbow waiting!

I praise Him for Great Falls, Montana! He has changed me from the inside out... i have grown in so many ways...that may not have ever come without this place! I have truly come to know the sustaining power of Jesus Christ! He is my comforter, my portion, my rock, my redeemer, He is worth trusting...always and glory to His name He has never failed me!

So... as i look back on this year not only do i think of what He whispered but, i claim this " A powerful motivation for believing God in our present is intentionally remembering how He's worked in our past"! (Beth Moore) AMEN!!!!!

So though the ride without the training wheels might be scary,might leave a few scrapes and scars... remember "He won't give up on you, He will get you there...right on time, and He loves you so much...forever!!! And after the rain... believe in a rainbow!

Jesus How i trust you!!